Scars Will Mend
by Rukia Jade Kurosaki
Summary: Medieval TimesAU: Ichigo,a military man swears to kill every enemy just to find the man who killed his mother right in front of him as a child. At end of a battle, Ichigo comes across Orihime who bares bruises on her body but won't talk about them and refuses to answer their questions leading up to them. Why won't she speak? Will he find the person responsible & his mom's killer?


**This is my first fan fiction, I hope you enjoy! ^w^ **

**You have no idea now much it pained me to have something like that done to Orihime, but in order for this story to work it had to be done. :( Don't worry though, she's a very tough girl and will recover! :D **

**The chapters will be longer after this chapter, I just wanted to upload it already. **

***This story line is all my own, an Anika Arabeth original, but the characters used are not mine. They belong to Tite Kubo. **

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He dusted off his military uniform brushing his hand on top of the hilt of his sword which was attached to his right hip, ready to be used if needed. He walked around the village filled with dead bodies covered in blood. He loved what he did for a living and that was protecting his village from the enemies. He got a thrill from slashing them to the ground. It was his...guilty pleasure. He swore on his mother's grave that he would slaughter every enemy he came across to avenge her death. Of course that man he was really after had never shown his face ever again. But he knew he was out there somewhere and once he knew where he would teach him the real meaning of pain and torture. That man...that man from all those years ago...what he did to his mother was...was...he couldn't protect her and he lost her.

"Never again will I let anyone go through that..." Ichigo looked towards the grey sky. It looked like it was about to rain on them. " I should head back," He looked over the dead bodies one more time before he spun around on his heel to turn back when he heard it. A noise. A rattle. He slowly and carefully walked towards the sound. He was ready to kill the man who dare hide from him. the thrill of the hunt excited him. He gasped onto the hilt of his sword ready to pull it out.

It was silent and starting to get a bit windy. He entered a broken down house, walking in slowly as possible. The floor of the house made noise and he knew that that was going to lead to a chase. He headed to the back of the house and saw a closed door. "And there is the enemy's hide out..."He grasped the knob and yanked it open to find no one in sight but a hole in the wall. The enemy left and he let it happen. "Damn it!" He ran out the hole and saw a figure wearing a brown riding hood. "You are not getting away that easily..." He ran after the brown hooded man. The man was fast, jumping over tree branches and turn his direction at the last minute. They were running for quiet a long time, and Ichigo didn't know how long he could keep this up. The man turned around corner and into a narrow crack in a house. "Shit!" Ichigo thought fast and ran around to the front of the house before he spotted the man just barely getting out of the house. Ichigo was getting close to the point where he could reach him but then...

"Haah!" The man wacked Ichigo right in the face with a Planck giving him a chance to escape from Ichigo. Ichigo hit the ground and was bleeding from the mouth. He felt a little dizzy from the impact of the wood that he stumbled to get back up. When he got back up he ran pissed off and ready to pull the head off of this man. "Wrong choice, heh." He wiped the blood away and the chase began again but this time Ichigo was catching up increasingly. Finding his chance he lunged at the man, pulling him down and both trying to fight for dominance. The hood completely covered the man's face, leaving Ichigo to ponder who he victim was. Ichigo gained the upper hand and was able to pin the man to the ground. " Time to see who you are." He pulled back the hood to only be speechless, he couldn't believe his eyes. A woman. He was chasing a woman this whole time? No, this can't be right. A woman? This...this can't be right.

He looked down at the woman who he was on top of in a lover's position and saw a beautiful woman bruised up. He stared into her eyes and he saw fear and pain. Who would do this to a woman?, Ichigo thought. He would never lay a hand on a woman, not even in battle. He refused to kill a woman or child. The woman under him struggled to break free but didn't have the strength to push him off. Ichigo ran a gentle hand over her bruised cheek, having the woman flinch in pain.

"Who are you ?" He asked with rage in his voice. The woman looked up confused. Why would he care? she thought. "I'm going to repeat myself one more time. Who are you?" Sounding more assertive, more, like a military captain then a worried man.

"O-Orihime I-inoue, sir."

"Well, Orihime Inoue, tell me who did this to you."

She turned her gaze to her left. She didn't want to speak about what she has been through or the man who did it. She just wanted to find a new, comfortable, simple life now. But she wasn't going to do that if this man didn't get off her.

"Miss Inoue, who did-"

"Ichigo?!" Another woman's voice was heard. Knowing who it was he called out to her. Following the way the voice came from, the woman was a bit shocked at what she was seeing. " Ichigo?...what in the hell are you do to that woman? You do know there is a brothel not too far from her right? Get off of her." She said, pushing Ichigo off Orihime. "I'm so sorry, miss. You know how men are when they get rattled." The woman helped Orihime to her feet, dusting her off before spotting the bruise on her face.

"T-thank you, uh, uhm,"

"Rukia. Rukia Kuchiki." Rukia answered still studying her bruise on her face. Does she have more?

"Orihime Inoue,Nice to meet you-ah, what, Miss Kuchiki what are you-?"

"I knew it. You have more on your arms and stomach." Pulling away, Orihime wrapped her riding hood around her and stood quiet. Staying where she was, Rukia asked, "Miss Inoue, are you endanger by any chance?" She didn't answer, she didn't even look up, instead she fainted, into the arms of Ichigo who caught her in time before she hit the ground.

"I got ya, I got ya," Ichigo said, looking at the now unconscious beauty that he held in his arms. She was definitely a beautiful woman he thought. Her face was perfectly rounded, beautiful grey eyes, and the way her hair hugged her face surly complimenting her so well. Her body was the body of a well breed woman, and he saw that all too clearly.

"Come on, she needs to be looked at and well rested," Rukia tapped Ichigo on the shoulder. Ichigo nodded, picking on the unconscious woman bridal style. "I'm going to report to the General about our finding of Miss Inoue." The two soldiers headed back to the camp that was set up for the invasion that ended today. Rukia wondered what could a woman like Orihime be doing here on a battle field filled with dead bodies. Who was she running from? Was she even running from someone or did she just happen to stumble across here? And those bruises...they seemed recent. Who did this to you, Miss Inoue? Rukia thought as she walked along side Ichigo. One thing for sure was that she was going to find out sooner or later.


End file.
